Nato leader's son in Sarajevo film cash row

The son of General Wesley Clark, the Nato supreme commander who led allied forces in the air raids against Serbia and Kosovo, is caught up in an embarrassing financial row involving the Bosnian government's attempts to make an epic film of the siege of Sarajevo.

Wesley Clark Junior and Mohammed Sacirbey, Bosnia's ambassador to the United Nations, are among a number of those involved in the production being asked to explain how Bosnian government money provided to fund the troubled film was spent.

At the centre of the row is Veljko Bulajic - the former Yugoslavia's most famous film director - who is demanding a government inquiry into the expenditure of money provided to produce the film, entitled Sarajevo .

Wesley Clark's name emerged amid inquiries by the Bosnian media last week into claims that the production was unable to account for 500,000 deutschmarks. While there is no suggestion that Clark or Sacirbey had misappropriated the funds, they have come under the spotlight following claims that both men exaggerated Clark's Hollywood experience and that he was overpaid for his work.

The difficulties with the film appear to have come to a head when director and screenwriter Bulajic was fired and Wesley Clark Junior appointed executive co-producer. Bulajic responded by questioning Clark's Hollywood credentials and the fate of seed money for the production.

According to Bulajic, Clark was originally appointed on the recommendation of Sacirbey to supply the names and addresses of US casting agents, for which he was supposed to receive a nominal fee.

Sacirbey had brought Clark into the production on the basis of claims that he was an already established movie-maker 'with a working relationship with Danny DeVito's production company Jersey Films'.

According to Bulajic, Clark was supposed to receive 'just a few thousand dollars' for providing contacts. However, the Bosnian magazine Dani claims to be in possession of a bank transfer printout from Vakuf Bank into Clark's private account, for $10,000 amid claims he received at least $60,000.

The Observer has been told that Wesley Clark Junior is not listed in the Directors and Producers Guild of America and Danny DeVito's company had only worked with him once when he had the role of a creative executive.

'I did not know whether to put him in the directing or producing department as he did not tell me that he worked in the movies before,' claims Bulajic. 'In the end I authorised him to make contacts on our behalf with some international actors and casting agencies. He made just a few contacts but did not work very hard.'

The controversy over the payments is at the centre of a wider scandal over the alleged disappearance of large sums of the pre-production budget.

The film had already spent Dm1.5m of its budget when Bulajic requested that an independent commission of inquiry into its expenditure was formed. 'The film team had spent around Dm830,000 for the pre-production purposes, and nobody seemed to know where the rest of the money had gone,' said Bulajic.

When Bulajic received no response from the production company, Bosna Film, he repeated his demand for full accounts in public.

Nedzad Hadzimusic, Bosnian ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - who is also the president of the executive board on Sarajevo - insists, despite Bulajic's complaints: 'Wesley Clark Junior has done a lot for this project.'

Mohammed Sacirbey also fiercely defends his introduction of Clark Junior to the film project. 'Wesley Clark Junior is a person of high capacity and good connections.'

However, Hadzimusic admits that the question of where the half million missing deutschmarks have gone remains unanswered.

'We will wait for the report [of Bosna film] which we will analyse and then, if necessary, we will open an independent enquiry,' he said.